I have a place in Hungary which is on the top of my list if I am looking for an experience to "recharge my batteries": Mala Garden Hotel in Siรณfok. It is a four-star hotel but based on the services that they offer, it could be 5-star anytime.
For some of you who participated in Beast 1, this hotel will be familiar. I made two very detailed posts about it (you can read them [here](https://whaleshares.io/thebeast/@ksolymosi/an-awesome-place-to-chill-out-in-hungary-part-1) and [here](https://whaleshares.io/thebeast/@ksolymosi/an-awesome-place-to-chill-out-in-hungary-part-2)) telling you about all the services they offer, how wonderful and attentive the staff is, what a breathtakingly good place it is. It is not wise to repeat what has been said already, although I have to admit that I was waiting for the return since we have left the building.
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It was my birthday on January 10th so it seemed perfect timing to visit the hotel again just to celebrate and chill out a little bit. And this is how they were waiting for us...
There was a fine bottle of rose wine cooled to the perfect temperature with a plate saying "Happy Birthday". We were invited to the lobby for a welcome drink when we arrived and we were sitting there sipping our drinks and even started to wonder why the receptionist have disappeared? Later it was obvious that they just needed some time to take the wine upstairs... ๐
We had a different room than last time with an awesome view on the half-frozen Lake Balaton. We just packed our suitcase in the room and went out immediately to take some pictures... I don't go to this lake very often in wintertime (it is a typical summer holiday location), but now I realized that it is a mistake. On the first day, there were huge, flat ice plates on top of the water, but due to the strong wind, it has been scattered and rustic on the second day. We took a lot of pictures, it was really beautiful how much it changed just during one night.
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My favourites are the sunsets... It's kind of magic for me how vibrant colours can appear inโ the sky. When I was a kid I used to think that there is a giant painter who just uses a huge brush to paint the sky. ๐
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It was freezingly cold with a very strong wind but still it was great to be outside and watch the lake, see the birds on top of the ice and walk on the edges (we weren't brave to walk on the ice any further... I guess it wasn't thick enough.) So we concluded that Balaton is definitely not only for summer... we have to visit it at wintertimes, too.
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This post was cross-posted on Whaleshares.